


Remembering Hurts

by FantasticallyTragical



Series: An Odyssey of Remembrance [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Other, Pietro is Angry, Poor Life Choices, Poor sad children, Sibling Love, Wanda is sad, maximoff sibling fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-01-16
Packaged: 2018-09-17 23:24:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9350813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FantasticallyTragical/pseuds/FantasticallyTragical
Summary: Wanda forgets sometimes, because feeling nothing is better than hurting.Pietro forgot how to grieve a lifetime ago. He is full of hatred, because that's better than feeling nothing





	

Sometimes, she forgets who she is. Sometimes, she is nothing more than a swirling mass of scarlet energy. Sometimes she forgets who she is, but she is always brought back. When she can’t remember who she is, a voice alway brings her back. She blinks the red out of her vision and shakes the cacophony out of her head and sees her brother sitting next to her, legs crossed under him, silver hair flopping over his forehead, chin resting on his hands. He smiles at her, a genuine smile, not the flirty smirk he usually sports. And everything would be okay. He smiles and she remembers. And most of the time, that remembering hurts more than forgetting did. But she doesn’t want to forget, she hates being numb, she hates forgetting.

“Remembering hurts,” she tells him when he asks. “It hurts so much.”

“Forgetting is worse,” he replies solemnly. She shrugs, not agreeing, not denying, because remembering hurts. She remembers her name, Wanda, and she hurts. She remembers his name, Pietro, and she hurts. She remembers her mom and her dad and her home, her true home, and it hurts. 

Wanda knows her brother hurts, too, but he never lets it show. Pietro is better at that than she is. He hides it, he buries it, and she wonders if that’s healthy. It doesn’t seem healthy. Pietro doesn’t  hurt, because he’s turned that hurt into anger. Pietro is angry and she hurts. She is frightened, of herself and what she can do and what she is. He is angry, at the world, at God, at their parents, at Tony Stark, at the scientists and the experimenters and America and the people that make them who they are.

Sometimes, he forgets how to feel. Sometimes, he is nothing more than hatred. Sometimes he forgets how to feel, but he is always brought back. When he forgets how to feel, a memory brings him back, an old, old memory, his dad’s voice, telling him he must always take care of his sister. Alway, always, always, no matter what, he must love and protect his sister. He remembers and he lets himself feel. But he only feels anger. He forgot how to grieve a long, long time ago, a lifetime ago. 

“I don’t want to feel sad,” he states when she asks him why. “I don’t want to, I don’t remember how.”

“Feeling sad is better than feeling angry all the time,” she answers, looking down at her hands, “sometimes it’s okay to grieve.”

“I don’t have time to. I have to make sure you’re okay.”

They did everything together, once upon a time, but now, now they are so different. Now, they are stronger and faster and more powerful than they ever imagined. Now, they cope in their own ways. 

Wanda remembers and she hurts, and she forgets and she hurts. She learns about everyone. She learns weaknesses and learns to manipulate them to her own advantage. And every time she forces another person to do her bidding, she wonders what her mother would think of her. But that hurts, so she forgets that.

Pietro hates and he rages. He buries the pain in pretty girls and alcohol and running faster than his problems. He can’t get drunk, but he tries, he can’t get high, but he tries. And every time he wakes up in a strange room with a strange girl, he wonders what his dad would think of him. But that hurts, so he outruns that.

They look at each other, and they realize how different they are now. But that hurts, so they forget that. Everyday, they lose a little more of Wanda and Pietro. They become unstoppable, powerful, better than anyone else. 

When HYDRA crumbles down around them, they run, and they remember who they are. They are still powerful, but now they stop forgetting.

Wanda remembers the sound of her mother’s voice and her father’s hugs and her brother’s laugh. She remembers and she hurts. 

Pietro remembers, and he is sad, but he doesn’t forget the anger. He will never forget the anger. 

Ultron comes to them with a plan to rid the world of everyone Pietro hates. Wanda is reluctant, but he knows how to convince her. Pietro always knows. 

Wanda does not trust this being, this robot without a mind, who does not feel. But he (it? She isn’t sure) offers them the one thing they want the most. Revenge. 

She is not fully convinced that this will help them. She doesn’t quite believe that seeing her enemies in ruin will take away the pain. 

Pietro has no such qualms. He hasn’t felt anything but anger and hatred for a long time. He has only one priority, and that is to keep Wanda safe. But Ultron’s offer is not a bad bonus.

Wanda wants revenge, but she does not want destruction.

Pietro wants revenge, but he does not want so many innocent people to die. He doesn’t know how to stop Ultron’s juggernaut of a plan. 

Wanda suggests the Avengers. The thought is repulsive to him, but he isn’t willing to see the world burn so he can keep hating.

In a strange twist of fate, they discover that the Avengers aren’t all that bad. That they aren’t gods (well, except Thor) of death. That they are a team of people, who make mistakes and hurt and bleed. Just like them.

So the twins fight. For the first time in a long time, they fight for what’s right and just and noble. And they wonder what their parents would think of them now.

The twins think their parents would be proud.


End file.
